Let’s Talk Movies! #31: Pandas, Zombies, Male Models, Superheroes, Greeks and…Caesar!

[Xela M]

You must not get out much! But James Dean is now thought of as cool and handsome, but when he first hit the big screen, I bet a lot of the older generation hated him both for his "cool" demeanour (which they probably thought of as incredibly disrespectful) and his strange looks which didn't fit the matinee idol mold at all. Of course, things have changed a lot since then in how the public sees him.

Was it Dean that copied Brando? Imdb.com lists Brando's first credit in 1949 and Dean's first credit in 1951. Is that enough time for one actor to copy another actor's persona? I do see that Brando had a hit in 1951 with A Streetcar Named Desire, but Dean didn't have a movie hit until four years later, 1955's East of Eden. I don't see their personas overlapping much myself, other than as the outsider. Brando was brash and tough and outgoing while Dean was quiet and tortured and aggrieved.

In Brando's autobiography he talks about how Dean copied him in everything.

Marlon Brando didn't just have a hit with a Streetcar Named Desire (and every other film he appeared in during the 50's) he absolutely changed acting and gave birth to a new generation of actors. The biggest Hollywood stars, including De Niro, Nicholson etc, all learned from Brando. Dean's acting style was absolutely inspired by Brando's acting.

 

[Xela M]

Peter, that is an interesting list. I like that you have thought of all genres when making your choices.

I agree with Peter about Suite Francaise. I loved it. Beautiful film, gorgeous music, great acting and a very moving tale, especially given the fate of the author of the novel.

 

[PeterG]

In Brando's autobiography he talks about how Dean copied him in everything.

Is it possible that if Dean had lived long enough, that in his autobiography he would have talked about how Brando copied him in everything? I actually had to do more googling because of what you've just said. Wikipedia mentions Brando's early successes as being on Broadway in 1944. Dean didn't graduate high school until 1949 and then dropped out of UCLA in 1951. And started doing minor TV roles that year. Dean moved to New York in 1951, which was the year of Brando's second film role, but his first major role. If Dean had been in California until 1951, the year of Brando's first big movie role, I'm not sure how much Dean could be influenced by Brando. Unless he changed dramatically in his acting style over the years...

Marlon Brando didn't just have a hit with a Streetcar Named Desire (and every other film he appeared in during the 50's) he absolutely changed acting and gave birth to a new generation of actors. The biggest Hollywood stars, including De Niro, Nicholson etc, all learned from Brando. Dean's acting style was absolutely inspired by Brando's acting.

Why is it that Dean "copied" Brando, but that DeNiro and Nicholson were "inspired by" Brando?

 

[MacMadame]

I liked Ex Machina okay, but I didn't love it. So because of that, I can't/don't really remember much about her performance in that movie. I'm not quite sure if she spoke or not in that movie, or if was one of the other women along with her who was the one who never spoke.

She was the female lead.

I had the same reaction to the movie and her performance was a large part what made it only good IMO and not great. I thought her face was too animated to make her being an Android believable.

 

[Vash01]

I'm curious to know of what you saw in 2015---whether it be a film on PPV/TV or at the cinema--what were your favorites?

I get out very little so I watch a lot of "on demand" PPV stuff. Of everything I saw I was surprised by what I loved the most: 1. A Little Chaos and 2. The Man From Uncle. I also saw a black and white film directed by Kenneth Branaugh years ago and called A Midwinter's Tale. It was a scream and is my number 3.

I'm curious to know everyone's favorites.

So far

Spotlight
Bridge of spies
The Danish Girl
Starwars-The Force Awakens
The man from UNCLE
The Walk
Brooklyn

 

[Buzz]

I'm curious to know of what you saw in 2015---whether it be a film on PPV/TV or at the cinema--what were your favorites?

I get out very little so I watch a lot of "on demand" PPV stuff. Of everything I saw I was surprised by what I loved the most: 1. A Little Chaos and 2. The Man From Uncle. I also saw a black and white film directed by Kenneth Branaugh years ago and called A Midwinter's Tale. It was a scream and is my number 3.

I'm curious to know everyone's favorites.

I'll give it a try:

Star Wars: TFA
Avengers 2
Unbroken
Selma
Jurassic World
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Pitch Perfect: 2
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Bridge of Spies

 

[Artemis@BC]

Not exactly a stellar year for movies, IMO. A lot of good ones, but very few that I've seen that have really wowed me.

My "best movies" (in no particular order):
Pride
Inside Out
Ex Machina
Brooklyn
The End of the Tour
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Me & Earl and the Dying Girl
Timbuktu
Camp X-Ray
Love Is Strange
Mr Holmes

Once I get around to seeing Room, Spotlight, Bridge of Spies, 45 Years, and Trumbo they'll probably make the list too.

And honourable mentions for "most enjoyable":
Paddington
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Kingsman
The Martian
Spy

 

[PeterG]

I like Christina Applegate, she might have been the main reason I chose to watch the new version of Vacation. Well, maybe seeing Chris Hemsworth nekkid except for a pair of boxer briefs, too! There were a few good moments, but most of those were already shown in the trailers used to promote the movie. And the laughs weren't as many as I had hoped for. Vacation is one of those movies that changes from a comedy into a drama where we all have to learn "life lessons". I have no idea why people who make comedy movies do this. If you're going to make a comedy, just stick to making us laugh!

This article gives a brief update in a list of rumoured upcoming movie sequels. Not sure how accurate any of this is but it's a fun read anyway.
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/movie-sequels/35837/155-movie-sequels-currently-in-the-works/page/0/1

Holy crap, I'm a totally movie junkie, but that list is too exhaustive for even me! Wanna share any of your own highlights??

People are posting in the old movie thread about Steven Spielberg movies, so I decided to waste some time and look at some of the top 10 lists via google. I looked at eight varied lists (some critics lists, some fan lists and some movie-lovers lists) and below are the favourites. The number at the beginning is the sum that each movie got, with 10 points for a #1 placement down to one point for a #10 placement. The number in brackets after each movie is the number of times each movie appeared on one of the eight different lists.

74 - Jaws (8)
62 - E.T. (8)
58 - Schindler's List (8)
57 - Raiders of the Lost Ark (7)
38 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (7)
35 - Saving Private Ryan (6)
24 - Jurassic Park (6)
17 - Lincoln (5)
16 - Catch Me If You Can (5)
15 - Minority Report (6)
9 - A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2)
8 - Duel (2)
8 - Munich (2)
4 - Empire Of The Sun (1)
4 - The Color Purple (2)
3 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1)
3 - Sugarland Express (1)
2 - 1941 (1)
2 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1)
1 - Amistad (1)

Nobody commented on my post about Steven Spielberg, so I'm just going to talk amongst myself. From this list, I'd say my top five Spielberg movies would be:

Jurassic Park
Munich
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Minority Report
Jaws

I'm a sucker for a great popcorn movie...Spielberg is a master of those. Only Munich from his dramas make my top five, I thought it was very much an underrated gem.

 

[Japanfan]

Why is it that Dean "copied" Brando, but that DeNiro and Nicholson were "inspired by" Brando?

Interestingly, I never say a Dean film despite being a film studies major. And never got through 'Streetcar Named Desire', which looked to me a form of torture. But I appreciated Brando in other films, and that appreciation grew when he gave his final gut-wrenching interview with Larry King. It is one of the honest things I've ever seen a celebrity do.

 

[Xela M]

Interestingly, I never say a Dean film despite being a film studies major. And never got through 'Streetcar Named Desire', which looked to me a form of torture. But I appreciated Brando in other films, and that appreciation grew when he gave his final gut-wrenching interview with Larry King. It is one of the honest things I've ever seen a celebrity do.

Wow, really?!?! "Streetcar Named Desire" a form of torture?! I watched the film countless times. Do you not like Tennessee Williams or old films in general? Because it's a brilliant adaptation and Brando's acting sets the benchmark as the best performance by a male lead and it's also the sexiest performance of all time. To me, Brando as Stanley Kowalski is the dictionary definition of SEX.

 

[gk_891]

Wow, really?!?! "Streetcar Named Desire" a form of torture?! I watched the film countless times. Do you not like Tennessee Williams or old films in general? Because it's a brilliant adaptation and Brando's acting sets the benchmark as the best performance by a male lead and it's also the sexiest performance of all time. To me, Brando as Stanley Kowalski is the dictionary definition of SEX.

It was definitely an iconic performance. And Brando has given lots of iconic performances (e.g. On the Waterfront, The Godfather, etc). I actually thought he gave the best performance out of the entire cast in Streetcar but ironically he was the only one who didn't win an Oscar (not that winning an Oscar necessarily means anything of course).

 

[skatesindreams]

Both Dean and Brando were respected stage actors before they got to Hollywood.
Dean was a force in early television dramas, as well.

 

[gk_891]

Has anyone ever seen The Official Story (La Historia Oficial)? It's an interesting movie from Argentina about the last days of the dictatorship. I thought Norma Aleandro gave an incredible performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY8P0UzpNKE

 

[PeterG]

Finally got around to seeing the TV-movie Tuesdays With Morrie. It felt like a TV-movie, but one with a good cast (Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria as the leads). Towards the end, I did tear up a few times. But for the rest of the movie, it felt like a serious version of "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey. With these people sharing things that are oh-so-insightful...but really don't have much depth. It made you feel sorry for them, that they thought they were discovering profound things with life, while I'm sitting there thinking, "Mr. Obvious, Table For Two"! But it's worth your while if you like this kind of stuff and/or Jack Lemmon. He'd be watchable in anything, I imagine.

'Concussion' is a good movie.

Normally I would want to see this type of movie, but I've watched a number of football-themed movies the last few years (both fiction and documentary), so I'm kind of on overload with this topic. But I think I'll store this one in the back of my mind and one day when I see it on the shelf of the library, I'll thank, "hey, why not?" So thanks for the recommendation.

I may be the only one who has this opinion but I enjoyed the documentaries "The Inside Job" and "Too Big to Fail" more than "The Big Short" (maybe because the info concerning the credit crisis was old hat to me, perhaps? Not sure.)

Similar to Concussion, I think I've seen too many movies with this theme (I think I've seen the first two movies you've mentioned), so I've taken a pass on The Big Short. Who knows, if it wins lots of awards, maybe it will end up on my "mental" to see list and I'll be talking about it sometime in the future.

 

[watchthis!!]

This weekend I watched Amelia, the movie about Ms. Earhart starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere. Ewan McGregor is in it as well, as is a young Mia Wasikowska. I thought it was decent enough, but I'm sure there are people out there who got all in a fuss about factual information about the movie not being spot-on. Funny how people don't understand what "dramatization" means. A lot of the movie was about Earhart's personal life and the men in her life. I would have preferred more of the focus to have been on her interest in flying and seeing more of her experiences in that field. But still an enjoyable watch, thanks in great part to the top-notch cast.

 

[Buzz]

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/mov...movie-sequels-currently-in-the-works/page/0/1
Holy crap, I'm a totally movie junkie, but that list is too exhaustive for even me! Wanna share any of your own highlights??

Here are some of my faves:

Flash Gordon 2 - but to be honest I had no idea there was a FG 1
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - loved the first!
Immortals 2 - I was one of the few in Morth America to love the first.
Jack Reacher 2 - love the books
Avengers 2&4
Bourne Identity 4 & The Bourne Legacy 2
Captain America 3
Mission Impossible 6
Transformers 5
Thor 3
X-Men: Apocalypse

 

[NinjaTurtles]

Saw The Revenant last night. The cinematography is glorious and really demands being seen on a large screen. I could see it being too violent for the squeamish types.

 

[Vash01]

Finally got around to seeing the TV-movie Tuesdays With Morrie. It felt like a TV-movie, but one with a good cast (Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria as the leads). Towards the end, I did tear up a few times. But for the rest of the movie, it felt like a serious version of "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey. With these people sharing things that are oh-so-insightful...but really don't have much depth. It made you feel sorry for them, that they thought they were discovering profound things with life, while I'm sitting there thinking, "Mr. Obvious, Table For Two"! But it's worth your while if you like this kind of stuff and/or Jack Lemmon. He'd be watchable in anything, I imagine.



Normally I would want to see this type of movie, but I've watched a number of football-themed movies the last few years (both fiction and documentary), so I'm kind of on overload with this topic. But I think I'll store this one in the back of my mind and one day when I see it on the shelf of the library, I'll thank, "hey, why not?" So thanks for the recommendation.



Similar to Concussion, I think I've seen too many movies with this theme (I think I've seen the first two movies you've mentioned), so I've taken a pass on The Big Short. Who knows, if it wins lots of awards, maybe it will end up on my "mental" to see list and I'll be talking about it sometime in the future.

Peter,

There is hardly any football in 'concussion'. It's all about things and people related to it, off the field. A lot of medical stuff and politics.

 

[Xela M]

Saw The Revenant last night. The cinematography is glorious and really demands being seen on a large screen. I could see it being too violent for the squeamish types.

Is Leo getting his Oscar?

 

[NinjaTurtles]

Is Leo getting his Oscar?

I think so...almost all are predicting his win. Some think Matt Damon could pull an upset.

I'd be fine with Leo winning for The Revenant. Certainly wouldn't be a gift. I could see some controversy or debate, given that he doesn't actually speak much in the film. IMO, there is something to be said about superb physical acting.

 

[PeterG]

Weekend Domestic Chart for January 8th, 2016

Surprises at the box office this weekend, but not that Star Wars remains at #1. It made over 42 million in it's fourth weekend and is now the third highest-grossing movie of all time. It has mad 1,733 billion and while it's still doing gangbuster business in North America, the foreign box office only makes up 53% of it's take so far. Compare that to Avatar, which made 72.7% of it's revenue from international box office. Most movies get 60 to 70% (or more) of their revenue from outside of North America, so Star Wars has plenty of money to make still. Just ahead of Star Wars at #2 for all time is Titantic with 2,186 billion made.

It's not a surprise that The Revenant jumps from #23 to #2 (making almost 40 million) as it goes into wide release, but the +8,793% change in revenue is a mighty big number! And it made an average of $11,801 per theatre, more than the (healthy in itself) $10,245 per theatre that Star Wars made. Another surprise is the staying power of Daddy's Home, which got bumped down to the #3 spot, but still made 15 million.

A surprising debut at #4, The Forest made almost 13 million, surpassing the production budget of 10 million in just three days. A small-scale surprise is that of The Masked Saint, a Christian drama which debuted way down at #30 and made only $123,777, averaging an anemic $257 per theatre. Every Christian drama released last year seemed to debut quite well, not sure why this one fell by the wayside.

Box office thresholds passed/reached:

100 million - Creed
100 million - Daddy's Home
50 million - Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
50 million - Sisters

 

[Cachoo]

Stallone wasn't nominated for a SAG award and I wonder if he will be nominated for an Oscar. Or how about someone like Sarah Silverman who was nominated for a SAG award and ignored elsewhere? Thursday's Oscar announcement should be interesting.

 

[Vash01]

Stallone wasn't nominated for a SAG award and I wonder if he will be nominated for an Oscar. Or how about someone like Sarah Silverman who was nominated for a SAG award and ignored elsewhere? Thursday's Oscar announcement should be interesting.

I saw Stallone's GG award as sort of a Lifetime achievement award. I don't see him get an Oscar nomination, although I have not seen his movie this year. I have just not heard any buzz about him- not enough to get an Oscar nom.

I have no idea who Sarah Silverman is. The SAG nominations are really strange this year.

 

[Japanfan]

Wow, really?!?! "Streetcar Named Desire" a form of torture?! I watched the film countless times. Do you not like Tennessee Williams or old films in general?

Yes, I do not care for Tennessee William or old films in general.

Because it's a brilliant adaptation and Brando's acting sets the benchmark as the best performance by a male lead and it's also the sexiest performance of all time. To me, Brando as Stanley Kowalski is the dictionary definition of SEX.

I'm aware that it is a brilliant adaptation that that Brando's acting in it is iconic.

However, we could argue at length as what the sexiest performance by a male actor of all time is.

 

[gk_891]

My favourite Brazilian movie is an older one called Pixote A Lei Do Mais Fraco. As amazing as the the main character was (played by Fernando Ramos da Silva who died not that many years after this movie was released), the performance that stayed with me the most was Marilia Pera as Sueli. She's only in the movie for the last 30 minutes or so but I thought she dominated each scene she was in. Pauline Kael (noted movie critic) once said of Pera's performance: Dusky and aquiline-faced, Marília Pera has an Anna Magnani-like presence-horrifying and great. Her display of passion wipes the little non-actor kids off the screen. She's the whore spawned out of men's darkest imaginings, and in her scenes the movie achieves a raw garish splendor. Warning that the movie isn't work safe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCCK3k0OKtc

 

[Cachoo]

I like Christina Applegate, she might have been the main reason I chose to watch the new version of Vacation. Well, maybe seeing Chris Hemsworth nekkid except for a pair of boxer briefs, too! There were a few good moments, but most of those were already shown in the trailers used to promote the movie. And the laughs weren't as many as I had hoped for. Vacation is one of those movies that changes from a comedy into a drama where we all have to learn "life lessons". I have no idea why people who make comedy movies do this. If you're going to make a comedy, just stick to making us laugh!



Holy crap, I'm a totally movie junkie, but that list is too exhaustive for even me! Wanna share any of your own highlights??



Nobody commented on my post about Steven Spielberg, so I'm just going to talk amongst myself. From this list, I'd say my top five Spielberg movies would be:

Jurassic Park
Munich
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Minority Report
Jaws

I'm a sucker for a great popcorn movie...Spielberg is a master of those. Only Munich from his dramas make my top five, I thought it was very much an underrated gem.

For me the gem from that group is "Minority Report." It felt like science fiction meets Alfred Hitchcock to me. I loved the political debate involving individual civil rights as it was important in any discussion of pre-crime. And of course Agatha and "the boys" and their treatment was also an issue.

"War of the Worlds" was not something I was interested in seeing but I was glad I changed my mind. First of all it was relevant because it showed displaced Americans and refugees at a time when we didn't see ourselves as displaced refugees. And a couple of months later New Orleans was under water. It was a reminder that we are all vulnerable. But I like the movie more because it was so personal. Instead of feeling like a disaster epic it was personal as we followed one very flawed man trying to save his children.

About the popcorn movies: I'm glad I was young when "Jaws," "Close Encounters...," "ET," and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" premiered. They were new and innovative. I liked the films and I enjoyed seeing them with a large audience of others who enjoyed the feeling of being at a fun event when watching those films. Each film was a delightful experience for me. "Jaws" was the movie that was the first summer blockbuster.. It was the film that everyone talked about that summer. "Close Encounters" left me awestruck by special effects I'd never seen before--I still like watching this film. "ET" was sweet (I still believe Drew Barrymore stole every scene) and "Raiders" was a blast. My dad used talk about Saturdays at the cinema watching serial episodes. "Raiders" reminded him of those Saturdays. I'll always respect Spielberg and George Lucas for creating such imaginative, fun films.

 

[agalisgv]

"War of the Worlds" was not something I was interested in seeing but I was glad I changed my mind. First of all it was relevant because it showed displaced Americans and refugees at a time when we didn't see ourselves as displaced refugees. And a couple of months later New Orleans was under water. It was a reminder that we are all vulnerable. But I like the movie more because it was so personal. Instead of feeling like a disaster epic it was personal as we followed one very flawed man trying to save his children.

What struck me was that Spielberg decided to direct a movie with hostile aliens. He once said in an interview there was a reason all this sci-fi films has friendly aliens--he didn't believe in depicting aliens as a hostile force. It was essentially a political commentary for Spielberg. So WOTW was quite a departure from that. I thought the movie highlighted the anxieties of sleeper cell terrorists in the Western world. The enemy in this movie had been with "us" all along--we just didn't know it. So to me, the movie had a lot of political overtones, and in ways that were quite different from previous Spielberg movies.

 

[Aussie Willy]

I saw The Revenant last night. Had not been on my to see list because I didn't like the trailers. But it was the only movie that the person and I could see getting seats next to each other at a suitable time (we wanted to see Sisters).

Having said that, I thought it was excellent. Direction and production was amazing. You just wondered how they filmed some of the scenes (such as the bear attack). I am not giving anything away to mention the bear attack because it is in the trailer but the way it was filmed was incredible. I am not surprised that Di Caprio won the Golden Globe. He was excellent. Probably should also win it for all the shit his character goes through in the movie too. The make-up team should also win an Oscar for the wounds, scars and making everyone look dirty. One negative was I felt it was too long - could have been shorter. Overall I was very surprised and whilst not an enjoyable movie, it was very well done.

 

[Cachoo]

What struck me was that Spielberg decided to direct a movie with hostile aliens. He once said in an interview there was a reason all this sci-fi films has friendly aliens--he didn't believe in depicting aliens as a hostile force. It was essentially a political commentary for Spielberg. So WOTW was quite a departure from that. I thought the movie highlighted the anxieties of sleeper cell terrorists in the Western world. The enemy in this movie had been with "us" all along--we just didn't know it. So to me, the movie had a lot of political overtones, and in ways that were quite different from previous Spielberg movies.

I had not thought of it that way before: That is always the impression I had with the X-Files as the Cold War had ended and that show felt like "the enemy is us." Your theory makes a lot of sense--something new for the next time I watch it.

 

[Vash01]

I saw The Revenant last night. Had not been on my to see list because I didn't like the trailers. But it was the only movie that the person and I could see getting seats next to each other at a suitable time (we wanted to see Sisters).

Having said that, I thought it was excellent. Direction and production was amazing. You just wondered how they filmed some of the scenes (such as the bear attack). I am not giving anything away to mention the bear attack because it is in the trailer but the way it was filmed was incredible. I am not surprised that Di Caprio won the Golden Globe. He was excellent. Probably should also win it for all the shit his character goes through in the movie too. The make-up team should also win an Oscar for the wounds, scars and making everyone look dirty. One negative was I felt it was too long - could have been shorter. Overall I was very surprised and whilst not an enjoyable movie, it was very well done.

This encourages me to see that movie. I was going to see it because of the buzz it has generated (even before Leo won the GG). Now it has moved up a notch on my list of 'to see' movies.